Brazilian striker Hulk and four other Porto players will be charged with an alleged assault on two security guards nearly two years ago.
The charges relate to a tunnel brawl during the Portuguese Liga match between Porto and Benfica at the Estadio da Luz in December of 2009, which the home side won 1-0.
The Portuguese Public Prosecutor (MP) has reportedly gathered evidence which shows that Hulk, Helton, Jorge Fucile, Cristian Rodriguez and Cristian Sapunaru assaulted two security guards, Sandro Correia and Ricardo Silva, after the game, Correio da Manha reported.
It is alleged that the Porto quintet acted deliberately and consciously , with the intent to cause physical damage to the two guards.
Sapunaru, a Romania international defender, is facing up to five years in jail on two assault charges, while the other four players could be sentenced to three years.
Quizzed on the matter, Porto president Pinto da Costa told Radio Renascenca: I have no idea if the MP did the same when (Luiz Felipe) Scolari punched a Serbia player (Dragutinovic, in 2007), or if it has done the same in other assault cases which have occurred.
As such, I will not comment on this, I will wait calmly.
After CCTV images revealed the incident, the Disciplinary Committee of the Portuguese Liga handed Hulk a four-month ban and Sapunaru a six-month suspension.
Later on, the Justice Council of the Portuguese Football Federation intervened and reduced Hulk s ban to three games and Sapunaru s suspension to four matches, when both players had already missed several months of action.
